Railay Beach, Part III - Longtail boats

So, I became a little obsessed with the longtail boats in Railay - the beautiful colors and unique form against the stunning backdrop turned me into a very trigger-happy photographer. Even though there were a ton of photos, I really like the way they came out, so I thought I'd dedicate a post to this series...hope you enjoy.

Railay Beach, Part II

After a leisurely start to our first full day at Railay, the men decided to go climbing to the highly-touted lagoon and viewpoint, while Lizard decided to channel her inner iguana and sunbathe on Pranang beach. Pranang is the most stunning of Railay's 3 beaches, situated at the end of the peninsula and surrounded by massive limestone cliffs and monkey-filled jungle.

Panoramic view of a Railay Beach

The eastern cliffs (to the left in the picture) were what Come, Ben and I decided to climb. The climb began on the path to Pranang from the other beaches, a few ropes and a cautionary sign on the side of a steep, muddy vertical rise.

Looking down on Come and Ben climbing

After making our way up to the top of the cliffs, we managed to find the lookout point pretty easily and got a few photos...

  

Afterwards, we went off to find the mysterious lagoon. Descending from the top of the cliffs, we made the tough trek down through the jungle and rock faces, hanging from ropes and shimmying through crevices and holes in the rocks.

Come in the jungle, en route to the lagoon

The rocks down to the lagoon (from below)

When we finally arrived to the lagoon, we were tired and ragged, sandals lost and shirts stained and ripped. Even though the lagoon was not particularly scenic and very muddy, the adventure of the climb made it worthwhile. And entertainingly, prior visitors had used the mud to create little shrunken heads along one of the walls - so I made one, and once I had placed it on the wall it shrunk and kind of looked like a football head (like Stewie from Family Guy).

The lagoon

The lagoon's shrunken mud heads

Afterwards, we joined Lizard to enjoy Railay Beach's less strenuous offerings. Pranang beach was beautiful, so many more pictures were taken...

Lizard lounging in the water

A view of an island off the beach

Cliffs and caves leading to the hollow center of the big limestone outcropping seen on the left-hand side of the panorama above

That evening, we went to the hopping east side of the peninsula to find some dinner. After first stopping at a dud of a restaurant, we found a nice restaurant that Come said reminded him of Bali (we'll be there in less than a week!). There we had some great food and even some red wine, which all of us were missing after a month in Singapore (home of the $100 table wine).

Ben, Come and Karim at failed dinner spot #1

Sitting down for dinner at the more appealing second restaurant

Tanned and flowered

Sultry Lizard

Thai Buddha/Santa

Railay Beach, Part I

We liked Thailand so much that we went back again this past weekend. It was a last minute decision - we had debated all week what we wanted to do for the weekend, and finally decided on Thursday night to fly to Krabi on Friday. Without really knowing what we were getting into, we booked a hotel on Railay Beach, a little peninsula off Krabi that is surrounded by high cliffs cutting it off from the mainland and thus only accessible by boat.

Fishing boats at the marina

Karim and Come at the marina in Krabi, waiting for departure

Rather than getting the hotel boat to pick us up, we thought it would be better / cheaper to get a longtail boat to take us. It was less expensive, but we paid the price of many delays and multiple stops to pick up other passengers en route to paradise. No matter - it was tough to wipe the smiles off of our faces.

Come and Liz on the longtail boat to Railay

Of course, when you're going through the choppy waters of the Andaman Sea in a long-tail boat, you're bound to get splashed a bit. And since the child in me really wanted to sit at the front of the boat, I got soaked. Again, not enough for me to stop the grinning. I love boats.

The excitement grew as we approached Railay and saw jagged rocks and dense jungles surrounding the peninsula. Liz's favorite refrain of late has been "Is this really my life?!?" and I heard it a few times as we got closer.

Some of the cliffs separating the peninsula from the mainland

Crossing another longtail

Once we had finally arrived and settled into the hotel, we went out to the beach to have a drink and catch the sunset. This was a most beautiful scene, with bright colors and the texture of the beach at low tide creating a splendid landscape. Many photos were taken.

Liz is in a good place here.

Note the random dude doing yoga at the end of the beach

Towards the end of the evening -- after much grilled seafood, and many Chang beers and Railay Coolers (Liz's new favorite drink - pineapple juice, rum, and Cointreau) -- we decided to recreate our NYE experience and launch a few lanterns into the sky. In doing so, we met a très sympa British couple that now reside permanently in Phuket - she runs a physical therapy clinic, and he creates TV ads for music companies (including these Now! That's What I Call Music ads). Well-versed in all things Railay, they told us about a "spectacular" lookout spot and a hidden lagoon that could be reached in an hour's climb... and with that, we had plans for the next day.